Patrick drove the No. 10 car in 10 races last year but she will not have those points from last season. Instead, Stewart-Haas Racing has struck a deal with Robinson-Blakeney Racing to acquire the owner points from its No. 49 team.

The No. 49 car, which was driven primarily by J.J. Yeley, was 42nd in owner points, which likely would do little to help Patrick make the Daytona 500 should she have problems in qualifying or the qualifying races. The deal, though, could possibly help her team if rain washes out qualifying for the following races at Phoenix and Las Vegas.

Patrick, who is running the full Sprint Cup schedule for the first time this year, drove the No. 10 car in 10 races last year through a partnership between Stewart-Haas and Tommy Baldwin Racing, which will keep those points (33rd overall) for its two-car organization entering 2013.

“Everyone at Stewart-Haas Racing continues to work tirelessly to ensure that all of our teams are as prepared as possible to start the 2013 season,” SHR Executive Vice President Brett Frood said in a statement. “In the case of the No. 10 GoDaddy.com team, providing a foundation of points for which the team can start the year was very important.

“As optimistic as we are regarding our prospects for this year, one element we cannot control is the weather. … It’s basically insurance for the first three races of the year, where provisionals are based on 2012 owner points.”

The starting lineup for the Daytona 500 is set by a mix of qualifying speed and results in the two Budweiser Duel qualifying races.

The front row (the top two spots) will be set by qualifying speed on Feb. 17 with positions 3-32 determined by the top-15 finishers — not including the front-row qualifiers — from each qualifying race on Feb. 21.

Four spots then are determined by qualifying speed, six by 2012 owner points and then one spot for a past champion’s provisional. If there’s no past champion eligible, then another spot is awarded by 2012 owner points.

In the next two races at Phoenix and Las Vegas, the fastest 36 cars make the field on speed with the rest of the field set by 2012 owner points, with one spot available for a past champion or another by owner points.

If it rains at Phoenix or Las Vegas, the top 36 teams in 2012 owner points make the field, followed by race-winning drivers and owners from the previous year, past champions, those currently in the top 36 in owner points and then qualifying attempts from 2012.

The No. 49 Robinson-Blakeney car was 42nd in owner points overall and 43rd with 25 attempts in 2012.

“At Daytona, we know the No. 10 team needs to either qualify on speed or race its way into the Daytona 500 via a strong finish in the Budweiser Duel,” Frood said.

“But if rain cancels qualifying at either Phoenix or Las Vegas, our No. 10 team will be well positioned to earn a provisional starting spot and race on Sunday.”

Starting with the fourth race of the season, 2013 owner points will be used to set the field if it rains. If Patrick makes the first three races, she should be well positioned for at least the next few races.

Stewart-Haas could have swapped the points of team co-owner Tony Stewart with Patrick and have Stewart, a three-time champion, rely on a past champion’s provisional if he wrecked in qualifying, but that would have impacted bonus money for the team. Also, past champion’s provisionals will be limited to one for every six races attempted in 2013.

“I worked hard for my points,” Stewart said a few weeks ago. “That's the confidence I have in her. I really feel like (crew chief) Tony (Gibson) and that team has done a great job with building her a great car for Daytona, and I feel like she's definitely got the talent and capability of racing her way in and hopefully just qualifying in (by speed) to where we don't have to worry about the qualifying races.

“But I think she'll do a great job on her own. We, business-wise, had to keep the points that we had for our car because of the bonus money.”

Patrick was 10th-fastest in single-car runs during January testing at Daytona.